Forbidden Honor (Dragon Royals #1)(38)

“Nice to see you, Honor,” I said because no one else was ever going to be happy to see me. Well except my little sister. But at least I could love myself. I headed down the hall as fast as I could and arrived in the maids’ area just as everyone was beginning to store their items.

Head said, “I had a hard time finding you today, Honor.”

“Oh, how strange,” I said. “I might have taken a brief break from my daily chores to save the academy from Scourge invaders, but I definitely spent most of my day working away.”

She eyed me skeptically, but let it pass with nothing but an irritated sniff. Head did not think I was funny.

As soon as Head was gone, Calla grabbed my wrist and whispered, “What are you up to, Honor?”

“I’m not up to anything,” I said, even though I didn’t think that I sounded convincing.

Calla gave me a long look. “Where have you been all day?”

“You don’t believe that I was cleaning? Head does, and she usually considers me quite suspect.”

“I’m your best friend,” she said, and warmth flooded my chest.

She’d never called herself my best friend. Somehow it was even more exciting than my flirtation with the dragon royals. Maybe girlfriends matter just a little more. After all, we truly can’t survive without our friends, but dicks can be optional.

“Can I be your roommate?” I asked. “I told my stepmother today that I can’t stay in that house anymore.”

She regarded me as if she knew I was trying to cut off the other discussion, but asked, “Do you have your stuff?”

“I’ll have to go back and get it... I’m not exactly up to anything. I promise.” She continued to regard me skeptically, even though I rested my hand on my heart. “I just found myself in a really weird situation.”

She scoffed, but her face softened. “Aren’t you always in a really weird situation?”

“What do you mean?”

“Well, you seem to have the attention of all five dragon royals for some reason.” She couldn’t hide the smile that slipped across her lips.

“It’s mostly bad attention,” I disagreed. “Arren thinks that I’m some kind of monster intent on sucking the life out of his friends. Jaik called me a naughty cat, which is super weird. He is super weird. Super bossy. And I don’t think the twins like me very much.”

They didn’t seem to like me in either of my incarnations.

“Maybe,” she said. “I noticed that you left out Lord Talisyn.”

“Talisyn is his own story,” I said. “But ultimately, he’ll do whatever Jaik tells him.”

I was really curious about their dynamics and why Jaik was the undisputed leader of their little group.

“Okay, but where were you today?” Calla glanced around, as if to make sure that Head was nowhere to be seen. “Do you need help?”

It touched my heart that the first thing that she thought of was that maybe I needed some kind of help, and that she was willing to offer it instead of being mad about how I’d been absent today.

“I don’t know. Maybe? It’s tricky.”

Her face fell. “You don’t want to tell me what’s going on? I understand. It’s all right.”

Somehow, the fact that she was willing to respect my privacy made me feel even worse about the idea of keeping any secrets from her. “No, it’s not that, Calla. It’s just, there are parts of this that I can’t explain to you for both our sakes. I wish I could, but I have secrets that aren’t mine to share.”

“Is it a bad secret or a good secret?”

“Both?” I answered.

“This is really not doing anything to sate my curiosity.”

“I know. It’s a complicated secret. But the big thing is that I have a second job now, and so I’m trying to figure out how I’m going to handle that because I can’t lose my income from this job. I have to take care of my little sister.”

“Oh,” she said. “I thought you saved up all that money for Hanna’s tuition.”

“My stepmother stole it.”

Calla seemed to consider this for a long minute, then said, “What are we going to do to get back at that evil heifer?”

Calla had called herself my best friend. But that was the moment that cemented for me that this was my ride or die best friend that I’d love for ever.

“If you need help,” she added, “then I’ll cover for you. But I don’t know how long it’s realistic to keep up having two jobs, especially if they overlap.”

“I know. I don’t know how I’m going to do it either. But I have to try.”

“Then I’ll help,” she said. “If there’s really nothing else that you can do, and you have to do that, then I’m sure I can at least move your stuff around and try to make it look like you’re still doing your job.”

“Thank you,” I said, a rush of warmth filling my chest.

“It’s not like you were ever very good at your job,” she said, “so this might not change anything.”

“Excuse me.”

She just grinned. I wasn’t entirely sure she was joking.

When I left her, I changed back into my new clothes and my new face. I had to get to Talisyn, but I also wanted to take a look at my room with the academy.